State and Government in Ancient India c18.s1.99

c18.s1.99

The village councils used to organise several works of public utility. Efforts were made to bring forests and wastelands under cultivation in order to increase the wealth of the village.³ Construction, maintenance and repairs of irrigation tanks and canals engaged the serious attention of the village councils of the Chola period, and probably the same was the case in other provinces and centuries as well. Jātakas give us a vivid picture of how villagers used to repair the village roads,⁴ and a south Indian inscription shows how roads used to be repaired by village councils; sometimes they would even widen them by purchasing the adjoining lands.⁵ Wells for drinking water were also dug and kept under repairs. Occasionally public halls or rest houses were also built.